EXCELLENT book, confirms my opinion that the best writers of history are non-historians. African history is mostly a depressing subject, but this book was so well written that I could not put it down. There is a good dose of white liberal guilt sprinkled throughout the narrative, as well as a typical tendency to blame non-Africans for the problems of Africans, but overall the author offers a penetrating analysis of the problems that beset modern Africa and their historical roots. As far as Africa’s leaders go, should we accept Nelson Mandela’s argument that we should excuse their greed and corruption on the grounds that they come from a culture of poverty? The author is a great admirer of Mandela, but agrees that this speech was not one of his finer moments. These days China is becoming more and more economically involved in Africa, while the West is withdrawing. China sees Africa as a bonanza, the West as a sinkhole for aid. Will Africa finally see prosperity? There is hope.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/01/03/africa-altered-states-ordinary-miracles-by-richard-dowden/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/01/03/taking-stock-of-2013/
Dec 22 2013
A History of Britain, Volume I: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC – AD 1603
An extremely good source of British medieval history, with detailed information on the rebellions of Simon de Montfort and Wat Tyler that I have not been able to find in other sources. Readable and enjoyable.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/12/22/a-history-of-britain-volume-i-at-the-edge-of-the-world-3000-bc-ad-1603/
Nov 14 2013
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
There’s not much I can say about this book without giving away spoilers, but I will say that it is the best one in the series so far. And I will give away at least one spoiler, just because it’s so good: Cersei finally gets her long awaited come-uppance. And Daenerys…oh, Daenerys…my heart beats for the last of the Dragon Lords. I must say, however, that Martin’s world is a brutal and nasty world, and with each book it gets nastier. I am reminded that it is a pagan world, and I feel like it needs to be evangelized. But blood and fire definitely make for an interesting story.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/11/14/a-dance-with-dragons-by-george-r-r-martin/
Nov 11 2013
A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
I read this book twenty years ago, but on rereading it I got much more out of it. This survey begins with the pre-Socratics and ends with John Dewey; it does not include the existentialists or the post-modernists, who were not yet influential when this book was written (1943). Russell gives a synopsis of each of the contributions of the great philosophers and offers his own critique of each as well. Many of the ideas of the philosophers are quite profound, but it must also be said that many of them seem quite foolish. It seems that almost any reasonable idea pushed to its logical extreme will result in folly or madness. Russell implicitly gives assent to the proposition that ultimately the truth is something that can never be known, but he does not, as many modern philosophers do, assert that truth itself does not exist. But this book was a wonderful journey through intellectual history and a marvelous adventure for the mind. A good primer for a difficult subject.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/11/11/a-history-of-western-philosophy-by-bertrand-russell/
Nov 08 2013
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson
Not sure why this book is such a sensation; I found most of it pretty boring, and the author obviously enjoyed writing about the rape and murder of women WAY too much. I don’t think I care to read the other two books in the series, but maybe my mood will change after I get the bad taste of this one out of my mouth.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/11/08/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-by-stieg-larrson/
Oct 20 2013
Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders by Aaron Beck
The central idea of cognitive therapy is that mood disorders are caused by internal delusions or self-deceptions, and that it you can correct the delusional perception, you will correct the the disorder. Beck argues in effect that people can be talked out of their mental illnesses, and as naive as this idea sounds in the face of mental illnesses that seem intractable, cognitive therapy has proven to have the same success rate in treating mood disorders as pharmacological treatments. The way to treat depression, for instance, is to teach the patient to replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk; the way to treat anxieties and phobias is to demonstrate to the patient that the source of his fear is in fact something relatively harmless. There are obviously effective and ineffective ways to go about this; it is not quite as simple as it seems, but it is a much more common sense approach than psychoanalysis and has fewer side effects than drug treatments. I want to learn more…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/20/cognitive-therapy-and-the-emotional-disorders-by-aaron-beck/
Oct 19 2013
With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge
Reading this gut-wrenching memoir has definitely cured me of any desire to be a hero. E.B. Sledge writes graphically but unaffectedly of war and its horrors, and of the heroic young men who fought against the Japanese in the Second World War. The account is inspiring, of admiration if not exactly emulation. Particularly gruesome is reading about Sledge good-naturedly joking with a Marine buddy, then reading in a footnote that the buddy never made it back home. It’s hard to read a book like this and not come away feeling very small and unworthy, but I remain content to leave my manhood untested and unproven.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/19/with-the-old-breed-by-e-b-sledge/
Oct 16 2013
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus
Tacitus is the greatest of the Roman historians. He is also the most prejudiced. Modern historians have called into question his portrayal of Tiberius as a cruel and depraved tyrant, and indeed Tacitus’ own narrative reveals him for the most part a capable ruler. Tacitus is always insinuating that while Tiberius said and did one thing, he was secretly thinking something else; how he had access to the emperor’s private thoughts is a mystery. Claudius the stammering fool likewise seems a highly effective ruler; he brought Gauls into the Senate, ruled with great clemency, and conquered Britian for the Roman Empire, something not even Julius Caesar was able to do. The story of Caligula is omitted, but no crime of Nero escapes mention. Tacitus clearly feels that autocracy is evil and has caused the decline of Rome; it is too bad that we cannot ask the common people of the Empire whether the emperors were in fact any worse than the senatorial oligarchy that Tacitus upheld.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/16/the-annals-of-imperial-rome-by-tacitus/
Oct 10 2013
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I had a hard time getting into this story, but halfway into it I couldn’t put it down. The main problem for me was the protagonist, who isn’t very likeable and isn’t someone I felt like rooting for. But once the Games begin the pages begin to turn very quickly. This is a gut-wrenching story that doesn’t leave you with a very good feeling about humanity, and I’m not sure that I want to read the other two books in the trilogy. But in terms of pure storytelling, this book is a fine effort, although it seems suspiciously crafted for cinematic adaptation. Realistic? Depends on how you look at the world, although the book’s perspective is refreshingly distant from the Randism that is currently making a comeback.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/10/the-hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire